You can check out my meditation for Wednesday for some possibilities. This is not exhaustive, of course.

Tuesday

About being good … an extinct species…. Again it boils down to our humanly objective.

Where is our treasure ?

Practically, I would comment with a question again, what steals our hearts away from Jesus?

Another question, frequently we know what is good for us but we do otherwise...like a person with high cholesterol should not eat Char Kuey Teow & still does becos of excessive desire for it. How do we prevent these unhealthy / evil desires of ours?

One way, is to know the bible from our hearts like what David shared with us last wed. Another, is to have a support group / person (like & not necessarily MUST be, YA or the APP program) whereby we are accountable for one another.

What is it with our jobs that we strive forward towards monetary goal…generally? I believe it is security. The security to live a better life (from earthly perspective). Peer pressure, family pressure ALL THESE need not be DiRECT pressure (ie family or friends tell you on the face that you must do well etc but one would not want to be left behind.

…is being left behind that bad (for this instance)?

Shen responding to:

"Another question, frequently we know what is good for us but we do otherwise...like a person with high cholesterol should not eat Char Kuey Teow & still does becos of excessive desire for it. How do we prevent these unhealthy / evil desires of ours?" "One way, is to know the bible from our hearts like what David shared with us last wed. Another, is to have a support group / person (like & not necessarily MUST be, YA or the APP program) whereby we are accountable for one another."

I think the desire to correct or to abstain from these temptations must first come from us. Like that phrase, "Don't try to change others, change yourself." No matter how much input someone else gives, we don't necessarily follow. I know that when pressure is placed on me to do something, it makes me want to run away. I don't like excessive control on me and I will leave anything that tries to exert control over me. That's why I'm in Malaysia and my parents are still in Australia? That's why I no longer go to the Church of Christ? That's why I walk out of relationships?

Perhaps it is wrong of me to do this, but I have deep-seated fear of losing myself. So long as the drive comes from me, it's okay. Nobody can push me to do something and the more they do, the more I tend to resist. It is only a handful of people that I have met that have the ability to ask me to do something and I will do everything I can to make sure it happens. I don't know what it is about these people that makes them different or gives them that authority, but I just know that there are no others like them. Not even my parents. Sometimes, even these people change.

I guess for me, APP doesn't really work because sometimes I still hold back. I may get in a mood where I feel ready to share, but suddenly it will disappear.

I remember Dr Ong gave a sermon whereby he commented that God wants us to either be hot or cold, but never lukewarm. He made an analogy to how we don't like to drink our coffees lukewarm. It is either hot or cold (as in "copi ting"). I just realised that I am a person who DOES drink my coffees lukewarm. I don't usually drink it hot or cold. Perhaps that is a reflection on how I live my life ? lukewarm.

David's response:

Just a response to your comments/questions:How do we prevent these unhealthy / evil desires of ours?

I agree that support groups are useful BUT, ultimately, we have to have our MINDS control our bodies. As with smoking, eating cholesterol rich foods, pornography and the like, external checks are useful for the short-term UNTIL self-control kicks in.

The fact is that we are adults and we have to learn to choose wisely, with our minds and hearts, not with our stomach. The Bible teaches us to be adults. It doesn't try to control us by external means - sin 2 times, 2 lashes, sin 10 times, 50 lashes... God wants us to choose, and holds us to our choices. Ultimately as in marriage, we live with our choices!

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